Ghosts That They Can't See
by AnimeGirl 144
Summary: [Sequel to "Hide From Me"] Weiss is no longer the little girl Jack remembered. She's all grown up. That doesn't mean she no longer needs the aid of her Guardian Angel.


Weiss Schnee sat perfectly still, eyes closed, hands curled into fists on her lap, drowning out the commotion around her in the Air Bus. She, her teammates, and the combatant representatives from the four kingdoms were being shuttled to the colosseum. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and nervousness the various students were feeling. Weiss didn't want anything the others were feeling to affect her. She needed to stay calm and composed for the battle ahead of her, because Team RWBY was competing in the first round against Team ABRN from Mistral's Haven Academy.

She had to keep her mind clear of all distractions, negative and positive, and focus it solely on the fight to come. The Vytal Festival and its tournament was important, so everybody across Remnant would be watching to see what the newest generation of hunters and huntresses could do. Even her father, who frowned on the profession, would be watching. She liked to believe he would be in his office, cheering her on, but Weiss didn't live in a land of fantasy. Her father had said his piece on the matter when she applied and left for Beacon Academy. He would be watching, but he would not be rooting for her. He would be rooting for her to fail.

Weiss' hands clenched at the anger and pain that ran through her veins, but the emotions gave way to confusion when she felt something cold form in her right palm. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see a snowflake in the shape of the Schnee family symbol sitting in the palm of her hand. The sight of it instantly washed away all her negative feelings, leaving her with a sense of joy and gratitude that brought a gentle smile to her face.

This was a gift from her Guardian Angel.

Her Guardian Angel, her first real friend, had returned to her some months ago, on a snowy day that may or may not have been his doing. From then on he would visit her, dropping off little snowy gifts as a sign of his return. The gifts were small and personal, though they never lasted for too long. They would turn to dust and disappear with the wind. She loved being around him because she didn't have to keep up appearances with him. With him around, Weiss felt like the world wasn't so big a burden to carry. With him around, she felt like she was allowed to let her more childish tendencies out and not be judged for it.

Since the first day he returned, Weiss had caught glimpses of him. He never stayed solid for long, but it was during times when Weiss would take time for herself and go out to the edge of the forest, where her Guardian Angel would be waiting with a snow hill or a pile of snow for the two to make snowmen. It was during these times of carefreeness that she'd catch glimpses of his person. She never heard his voice, though she thought she had once when she was a child. Still, he didn't seem to mind her holding one-sided conversations with him, and she felt free to tell him anything and everything going on in her life, such as her excitement and nervousness over representing the Kingdom of Vale in the tournament. He never judged her, and would communicate back to her in his own ways.

Weiss never told her team about her Guardian Angel. For one, there was absolutely no reason to and two, they would probably think she was losing her mind. Besides, she liked the idea of having this knowledge of her Guardian Angel to herself. It was something she could definitively claim as hers.

Keeping the snowflake clasped in her hands, she brought the gift close to her chest and felt excitement run through her veins like it was blood. She was ready. Ready to win the tournament. Ready to show her team how much their bonds had changed her into a person. Ready to prove her father wrong.

Ready to show the world who Weiss Schnee was.

* * *

From his place up in the air on his staff, Jack Frost has a bird's eye view of the tournament. He found he liked sitting on it rather than in one of the stadium seats or even on top of the commentator's box. His staff meant he could fly around and get better angles of a fight if he wanted to, and he didn't have to worry about anyone spotting him; no one in the colosseum could.

The first round had been explosive, and Jack could tell that this new batch of hunters and huntresses in training were going to be a great group to protect Remnant, but Jack wasn't there for any of them. Callous as it may sound, Jack was only there to see Weiss Schnee.

Weiss had gone and grown up on him while he was away discovering who he was. Naturally, that was to be expected. He had kept his distance from the girl out of guilt ever since the night he changed her appearance. It had been an accident that had changed her appearance to one remarkably similar to his own, but over the years, a desire to see the little girl grew. He had been her only source of joy; what sorta life did she have after he left her?

His position as the Guardian of Fun seemed pretty obvious in hindsight, when he looked back on his interactions with the little girl. He had filled her days with snow flurries and snowball fights and sledding down little snow hills. Letting her have fun in that drab, boring mansion had come naturally to him. Even before he knew his purpose in life, he had been fulfilling his duties.

The Schnee mansion was empty of the girl who dubbed him her Guardian Angel, but he had learned she was at Beacon Academy. He knew of it, though he had no reason to go near it; being a Guardian meant that only children could see you, not adults. The day he chose for their reunion was a day that was already snowing, needing no help from him. Students had been out, enjoying their snow day, and on a whim, Jack had formed a snowball and sent it flying at a girl in a red cape. Guardian or not, he was still the embodiment of mischief. Shortly after, the little girl that was not so little anymore had appeared from out of the school, and they had their reunion, even if she couldn't see him.

From then on, he juggled between his two duties: being the Guardian of Fun and being Weiss' Guardian Angel. Whenever he'd come back from a long leave of providing fun to Remnants children, he'd present Weiss with a little gift. No one, not even her teammates, knew he visited the school, though he did catch the headmaster staring directly at him once. That had sent chills down his spine, so he avoided the headmaster at all cost.

The announcement of the next fight drew Jack back to the arena below him. The tournament was in its second round, and Weiss and her blonde teammate stepped forward, prepared for the challenge. Jack leaned forward eagerly, excited to see the ensuing fight.

The fight was exceptional, as was expected. He had already seen what Weiss and her teammate could do, but their opponents were new. The Faunus used roller skates to get around and was pretty agile and the boy could multiply himself and use his trumpet as a weapon. The battle was heating up, but then it took a rather grim turn when Weiss, seeing her teammate about to be hit by the boy's attack, knocked herself and her opponent into a pillar of fire. Her teammate was safe, but Weiss wasn't visible from the aftermath. It took everything in Jack's being to not fly down and check on her himself.

His mind tuned out everything once he finally spotted her. Her normally pristine image was covered head to toe in ash. Despite that, she seemed to be okay. She was able to sit up, and even held a conversation with her teammate. Relief flooded his systems, making it easier to breath again. With a wave of his hand, he formed a snowflake in her hand, to let her know he was there, watching.

* * *

Beacon was falling.

_Beacon was falling._

Not even in her worst nightmares could Weiss imagine such a thing. It should have been impossible.

It was not impossible. It was not a nightmare.

It was happening.

At the base of the Beacon Tower, Weiss fell to her knees. She had just used her glyphs to help Ruby run up the side of the tower, straight for the fight where Pyrrha and the woman she was fighting were at. Also at the top of the tower was a Grimm dragon, oozing out Grimm from its very essence. Using her semblance drained Weiss of her remaining energy.

Within the time span of a night, she had fought off Grimm, White Fang members, and Atlas Paladins. She had also performed her first summoning, even if it was only partially. She had spread herself too thin, and she was now feeling the repercussions with an army of Grimm advancing in on her. She knew she had to get up and defend herself, but her body wasn't cooperating.

Closing her eyes, Weiss waited for the hit from the Ursa, but it never came. Curious on what had stalled the Grimm, Weiss opened her eyes and found herself face to face with a wall of ice. Not only had the ice separated her from the monsters, it had also frozen them inside of it. Weiss blinked, momentarily thinking she had been the source of the ice wall. But that couldn't be possible; Myrtenaster still laid on the ground at her side.

So who...?

Weiss blinked, feeling something cold in her unoccupied hand. Opening it up, she found a snowflake inside. Glancing upward in surprise, she caught an image that made her eyes widen. A slightly tangible form of a boy with white hair, blue hoodie, brown pants, and a hooked staff stood before her. Blue eyes sparkled from over his shoulder, looking down at her with a reassuring smile on his face. When Weiss blinked again, the boy's image was gone.

Jack hadn't been on the Beacon Campus when the invasion began. Because Weiss' blonde teammate was chosen for the one-on-one round, Jack had decided to visit the city of Vale and bring the spirit of fun to the kids in the city. He was planning on staying there up to the end of the tournament, but the plans were shot when the Grimm began invading the city in large numbers. He had fought off a few before he glanced over in the floating colosseum's direction, finding that Grimm were converging on it and the campus it hovered over.

Weiss could handle herself. He knew she could handle herself. She was a huntress-in-training, so she was qualified to handle Grimm in combat. That didn't stop the sudden spike of fear that turned his veins to ice. He took off at breakneck speed, killing whatever Grimm he encountered in the air or on the ground on his path to the school. Beacon was on fire, much like the rest of Vale. From his eye in the sky, he spotted Air Busses at the edge of the campus. People were being loaded up, and he spotted a few familiar faces. None of them were Weiss, however.

Flying further inward, he cooled down some of the fires he passed by. His attention was caught by the dragon flying above a tower. Curiosity got the better of him, so he flew in that direction. At the base of the tower, he spotted a familiar shade of white surrounded by a wave of black. Acting on reflex, Jack dropped down, getting between Weiss and the army of Grimm that had advanced upon her. Raising his staff, he called forth a wall of ice that not only blocked the advancing horde, but also captured them within it.

He formed a snowflake in her hand, his calling card so that she knew he was there. He smiled at her over his shoulder, reassuring her that it would be alright. He was here. He was not going to leave her this time. Weiss blinked up at him, a look of recognition in her eyes. He didn't have time to make heads or tails of what that meant; the Grimm were starting to climb the wall to get closer to the girl, and he needed to focus.

From behind him, Weiss stood to her feet, clutching her weapon tightly in her grip. Seeing the boy had sparked energy into her blood. Beacon was falling around her, and she refused to be beaten down on her knees. She was Weiss Schnee. If she was going down, she was going down fighting.

"Thank you," she said to her Guardian Angel, watching as an Ursa topped the ice wall.

She didn't expect a response back; she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to hear him even if he did. To her surprise, she heard his voice carry over the wind, confident and reassuring.

"I'll be here for you, _always_."

* * *

**Hello everyone. I can't believe it's been five years since I wrote something for RWBY/Rise of the Guardians. Because I started out this trilogy before Volume 2, I didn't know Weiss has a sister. And because this was started before Volume 4, I didn't know she had a brother. So, for all three of my stories, Weiss is an only child. I am aware that this is not canon to the show, just as I am aware Weiss always had her white hair and blue eyes. This story is already an AU because of RotG's inclusion, so I decided to roll with it. Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day!**


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